Asylum Strikes Back

Welcome to Try-Athlete the blog where I try all the latest fitness and diet trends so you don't have to. After doing a few weeks of T25 the new workout from famed trainer ShaunT and BeachBody I felt I needed to step my game up. Some people only have 25 minutes to spare to workout but I make working out a priority and put aside an hour to improve myself daily. No judgement to anyone who likes T25 or only has a short period of time to workout, that's just not me. I love to workout and when I'm dripping sweat that's when I know I'm working my hardest. 

Earlier this year I completed Asylum and loved it, because its all about bringing out your inner athlete. I wanted to get back into the shape I was in when I did it before so I decided to do Asylum again.

The Good:

I got into great shape fast, I was sore every day for the first couple days. I like when I'm sore because then I know I'm working my muscles differently than before. Since I have done this series of workouts before I knew what I was doing so I excelled at moves that had been hard for me in the past. 

The Bad:

One of the workouts I literally hate the warm-up and I had to face that workout. It's not that the warm-up is really tough it's just annoying and repetitive and for some reason I just don't like it. Since only one of the workouts has that warm-up I just decided to do it. And once I had, it actually wasn't as bad as I had built it up in my mind.

The Unexpected: 

I was surprised how fast I was able to see changes in my body. My abs started to get more chiseled within a week and so did my shoulders, thighs and butt. I was also surprised that I remembered everything from when I did it before and it all came back just like riding a bike as they say. 

Recommendations:

I would recommend this workout to advanced fitness people. Beginners shouldn't start with this workout as it is very intense. This workout is an excellent way to get your cardio in and enjoy doing it. I feel like an athlete when I do these workouts and everyone has an athlete waiting to come out. 

So until next time stay strong and stay fit. 

Juicing Part II

Welcome to Try-Athlete, the blog where I try all the latest fitness and diet trends so you don't have to. This week was dedicated to juicing. One of the companies I work for just opened a juice bar. I had the pleasure of helping out for the week and by doing so I got free juice for breakfast and lunch. 

I have done a juice cleanse before but that was when I wasn't eating as clean so I was interested to see how it would effect me since I've been eating clean.

Juicing is such an amazing way to get the nutrients you need and get them fast. Since juice absorbs into your system quickly you feel the benefits of the juice and you feel energized. 

The first day I started I got to try a taste of all the juices on the menu. Nine recipes total, they each were interesting and tantalizing combinations. My taste buds were one the ride of a lifetime with every sip of apple, kale, mint and orange, lemon, ginger and cayenne pepper. The combinations or the juices complimented each other so well and was making juicing fresh and new for me. 

The next couple days I supplemented breakfast and lunch with juice. I still worked out and made myself a healthy vegan dinner of mostly grilled veggies. I realized the 3rd night that all I had eaten for three days was fruits and veggies. I felt good, I felt refreshed and energized and decided to keep it up. 

The Good:

I felt amazing, just juicing and only eating fruits and vegetables really gives you the nutrients you need. It's also nice having someone else juice for you, I try to drink my juice within 15 minutes of it being made. When I make my own juice I am usually cleaning my juicer while drinking my juice instead of just enjoying my juice. 

The Bad: 

When you eventually eat something that isn't juice or fruits and vegetables your stomach tells you so. I had organic blue corn tortillas chips on my last night and my stomach rejected them. I had a horrible stomach ache which I never got when drinking juice.

The Unexpected:

I've juiced before but it's been awhile since I drank a lot of juice and I was very surprised about how much energy I had just drinking juice. I also craved carbs this week which was weird because I don't consume much carbs. I didn't have any but I noticed at lunch time I was craving bread.

Recommendations:

I would recommend juicing to anyone and everyone. It is a great way to get all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that we need on a daily basis. For someone just starting on the path to health I would recommend supplementing one meal for juice. It might take a few days to get used to but eventually you will feel the benefits. Until next time stay strong and stay fit! Connect with me @genevievemelzer. 

Two A-Days

Welcome to Try-Athlete the blog where I try all the latest fitness and diet trends so you don't have to. Do you remember when you where a kid and you attended all day sports camp? Well I do I went to soccer camp every year. I also had a week of conditioning before school started for soccer. That week was brutal running suicides as they call them and seeing how fast you could run a mile. I run a mile a lot faster now than I did back then.
I was thinking about those camps this past week and I thought about how football players and other athletes workout 2 times a day. They call them 2 a days and it gives them a break to eat or refuel and then workout again. I used to run around all day at those soccer camps so I decided to workout twice a day this week. Here's how it went...
The first day I started with a T25 workout since I'm still doing that workout I incorporated it into my 2 a day schedule. I did the T25 video "Cardio" and then I did a video from the BeachBody series Asylum called "Strength." This was a great way to start out my two a day week. Talk about working hard first I did Cardio so I got my sweat on and then I did Strength 50 minutes of weights working back, arms, chest and abs. I felt like a muscle machine after doing both of these workouts. For the rest of the week I did similar workouts trying to combine different muscle groups.

The Good:
I was able to do it. I'm in good enough shape that I was able to do 2 workouts and not pass out or throw up. I was working multiple muscle groups daily. I could tell I was getting stronger because I didn't need to take breaks I powered through my workouts. I definitely got my sweat on, when I would first start to sweat it would be the end of my first workout and so when I started my second workout I would be dripping with sweat the whole time.

The Bad:
Two a days take more of your time. Instead of just working out 30 minutes to an hour I now found that I was working out up to 2 hours. While that isn't really that long of a time if your busy with work, family or other obligations 2 hours is a long time.
I also noticed the days I didn't eat enough. I felt sluggish and even nauseous at times. It is so important to fuel your body for a workout especially 2 workouts. By the end if the week I would make sure to fuel up before each and every workout.

The Unexpected:
I was a little surprised at what I was capable of doing. I totally believe in myself don't get me wrong but I was doing 2 very challenging workouts and I was able to complete them. I guess I'm in better shape than I thought which is pretty exciting. Since I need to built up my endurance because eventually it's one of my dreams to run a marathon I feel these 2 a days are helping with my endurance and my confidence.

Recommendations:
I would recommend starting 2 a days to someone that is already in great shape and is training for a fitness event. I think it is always important to know your limits and know when to stop, but also know when to push yourself because that is the only way you will improve. So until next time stay strong and stay fit!

Hiking Runyon Canyon

Welcome to Try-Athlete the blog where I try all the latest fitness and diet trends so you don't have to. This week I hiked, I'm still doing the workout T25 but I switched my day off so I could hike Runyon Canyon.
Runyon Canyon is a State park in Los Angeles, CA located right in Hollywood. It has amazing views and hiking trails. If you're ever in the area you must hike it.

The Good:
This hike has amazing views and vista points you can see the whole city of Los Angeles and it is truly breathe taking. I usually workout alone or with a group of people in a class but no one is taking. I went on this hike with my sister and we had a great time catching up and chatting about everything and anything. It was nice to have her with me and we were outside in the middle of a city working out.

The Bad:
This hike is very popular which isn't necessarily a bad thing but we did have to stop a few times to let people by and that was kind of annoying because I wanted to get my sweat on. As soon as we got to the higher part of the trail there wasn't as many people and that was more peaceful and I enjoyed that.

The Unexpected:
I was surprised when climbing the steepest part of the trail I was out of breathe, unable to talk and had to stop. I consider myself to be in great shape so I'm always shocked when something is working me to the point I need a moment to catch my breath and this was just a hike! But elevation and incline can really do that to anyone.

Recommendation:
I would recommend this hike to anyone! It is a great way to break up your workout week by adding something different and getting a break from your usual gym routine. You are outside and soaking up nature and getting a workout. For a challenge I would run it next time. This hike was definitely a different kind of workout than what I'm used to but I enjoyed the change of pace, so until next time stay fit!

Focus T25

Welcome to Try-Athlete the blog where I try all the latest fitness and diet trends so you don't have to. This week I tried the newest workout from BeachBody called "Focus T25," the workouts are taught by Shaun T the same guy that brings you Insanity and Asylum.
I had received an email from BeachBody notifying me that Focus T25 was out and I could order it. I was intrigued immediately so I watched the commercial for it and it was on. The commercial claims all the workouts are 25 minutes long hence the name T25 and it boasts that you can get just as good results with these twenty five minute workouts as an hour workout. The slogan is "It's about time," so we ordered it and it arrived Monday.
It was time to see if this workout would give the same results Insanity or Asylum gives in only 25 minutes. The first workout was "Cardio" it was pretty easy and I got through it without breaking a sweat. It was a good workout but nothing like Insanity which I am used to. We built on the exercises so instead of just doing switch kicks we started with a low kick and added on from there.
Tuesday I did "Speed 1.0" it was a bit harder than Cardio but still not as tough as I'm used to. We built on exercises again and had to do them faster and faster. It involved a lot of jumping and cross jumps too. This workout made me sweat but only a little.
Wednesday was "Total Body Circuit" and let me tell you, up to this point I had underestimated this new workout. Total Body Circuit kicked my ass...and in only 25 minutes and I dripping with sweat. Sweat was pouring down my face, I even got some in my eyes. Everything was covered in sweat! This was what I had been waiting for, a hard core workout in only 25 minutes. We worked core, legs, arms...everything. We did push-ups and squats and lots of jumps too it was tough to get through this workout. I was stoked at the end of this workout because I knew T25 was going to give me the results it promised.
Thursday was "Ab Intervals" which focused on all ab work. This workout left me sweaty and sore. My abs and my lats were hurting, which was exciting for me because that meant I had worked them hard. We did plank holds and added jumping and piking to them. Each exercise got harder and harder till I was almost unable to do them because I was so tired from the previous exercise.
Friday was double time, I had to do 2 of the workouts so a total of 50 minutes. I started with "Lower Focus" which is all about the lower body and had a lot of lunges and squats and was a pretty good workout. Then when I was finished with that I had to do "Cardio" which I had started with Monday. Doing it by itself is one thing but doing another workout before it is another. I am excited to see what week 2 is gonna be like. After my double workout I can't wait to see how each week gets harder.
Overall, I think I got a great workout this week. At the beginning of the week I wasn't sure but by the end of the week my faith was restored and I know I'm going to get results from Focus T25. So untill next week stay fit!

Trampoline Hot Mess

Welcome to Try-Athlete, the blog where I try the latest fitness and diet trends so you don't have to. This week I tried working out on a trampoline. I signed up for a trampoline class at the trapeze school in Los Angeles, CA. One of my friends had told me about a trampoline class she had been to and it sounded tough but fun. When I signed up for this trampoline class I didn't realize it wasn't anything like the class my friend had been to.
When I got to school it was located on the Santa Monica Pier. It was outside so tourists and onlookers could watch you. Since it was located on the pier it smelled like cotton candy and popcorn. The trampoline was an Olympic size trampoline and the class ended being learning tricks on the trampoline. Usually each class had about 4 people in them and each person worked on a trick and then the next person would go and the others would observe and watch.
In my class it was just me, I was the only one who signed up that day. I was super excited because that meant the whole hour would just me learning tricks on the trampoline. My instructor had me stretch out to start, when I got on the trampoline he had me learn basic jumps. How to jump the correct way and then had me do jump turns the correct way. He taught me how to stop myself if I got out of control and how to always be safe.
After I had learned the basics he taught me how to do different kinds of jumps. When I had all 4 down he had me do series with all of them together. This was about the time of the class when I started to get tired. The sun was out and it was hot, I was sweating a lot. Then we moved on to back-flips, the instructor put a harness on me to protect me during the backflips. Backflips look really fun and I was very excited to try them. I did 2 of them and I was exhausted. You use almost every muscle to do a backflip and I was already tired before I started the backflips.
After the backflips I got a much needed break. I was sweating and the sun was beating down on me and I was tired. I workout all the time and do hard workouts everyday so I didn't know why this was effecting me in such a way. I couldn't believe I had 20 minutes left in the class and I wasn't sure if I could finish the hour class. After the break I started doing the jumps I had already learned and then moved on to a jump where you fall back, your back hits the trampoline and bounces back up. On one of the attempts of this jump I did a backwards summersault on accident because I got to much bounce and I hurt something in my neck. I probably should have stopped at that time but I wanted to finish the class and it was just sore it wasn't hurting when I moved it. The last 10 minutes of the class where the hardest I had no energy left and I was so hot. The class ended with going over everything I had learned and I really had to use my mind to get through it because I was so exhausted.
When the class was over I felt nauseous and fatigued. I realized if their had been other people in the class it would have given me more breaks I wouldn't have gotten so worked. I would recommend this class to someone who was adventurous with their workout and wanted to learn new things. I would say make sure for your first class that you aren't the only person in the class. Even though I had a somewhat bad experience I would try this class again. I would take a friend with me and make sure other people had signed up for the class. Have a great week and until next time stay fit.

Summer Slump

Welcome to Try-Athlete, the blog where I try all the latest fitness and diet trends so you don't have to. We are in the heat of summer and this last week I went on vacation. I got back Friday and I have found it very hard to find the motivation to workout. Even as the "Try-Athlete" I love to try new fitness trends but this week I just didn't have any motivation.
It's summer so it's extremely important to look good in your swimsuit. Since I just got back from vacation and don't have anything planned yet I had no motivation. I was also busy after work each day so I used that as an excuse but I ALWAYS make time to workout so I knew something was up. It's been over a 112 degrees everyday here in Palm Springs, CA where I live and I used the heat as an excuse as well. Neither of those things is a valid excuse because you can always make time to workout and you can always go to a fitness class or gym that will be in air-conditioning.
I decided to reach out on Twitter and asked my followers "how do you get out of a workout slump?" I received so many helpful comments and advice. One person told me to have make a new goal for myself. I thought this was great advice because whenever I have a goal or trip planned I workout extra hard because of it. I really want to run a marathon this year and their is one in Vegas in November so I'm seriously thinking about training for it. Also their is a new BeachBody workout with my favorite trainer Shaun T so I could buy that too. I'm also researching a trip to Hawaii in August so maybe that will be motivation as well.
Another person said they stand in front of the mirror for 10 minutes before getting in the shower everyday. Looking at yourself will motivate you to workout to get the body you had before or the body you have always wanted. Admire what you like and see what you want to tweak.
Someone else said take a break and refocus. This is also great advice because giving yourself a couple days off to rest will refocus your mind and then you can get back into it.
After reading all these helpful comments I was ready to get back in the game. I had taken a week off due to my vacation and lack of motivation. But instead of getting down on myself which would just make me feel worse about myself, I decided to make good choices starting today. I decided to go for a run even though it was very hot outside and I had a lot of things on my to-do list for today.
I ran for a little over 2 miles and my confidence and motivation is slowly coming back. I'm still in shape and will continue to build on my fitness level and accomplish my goals and dreams. So when you are in a fitness slump and can't find your motivation don't get down on yourself it happens to everyone. Happy to say I'm back in the saddle so until next time stay fit.